Nikola Joki\u0107 will remember last night\u2019s visit to Chicago for recording yet another triple-double, the 182nd of his career, and moving up to second place on the all-time NBA list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around fifty girls and boys, young women and young men from the folklore group \u201cTrome\u0111a\u201d from the Church of St. George, who came all the way from Indiana to welcome Nikola on the court of the United Center and greet him with Serbian folk dances and games, will remember it for disappointment, because their idol, whom they eagerly waited for after the performance, did not find the time even to take a photo with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not to greet them, not to say a single word. Nothing. He walked past them, as our people say \u2013 as if past a Turkish cemetery. With a single wave of the hand, without looking, like when he assists his teammates, which the greatest optimists interpreted as a greeting\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they were waiting, all dressed up, neatly prepared, in traditional costumes that they had carefully prepared, washed, and repaired days in advance especially for this occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in the end they returned home sad, deprived of a memory they would have cherished for the rest of their lives \u2013 to meet a brilliant basketball player, their countryman, whom they admire and for whom they cheer with all their hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luckily, they were already old enough, so they did not really cry or shed tears, which did happen last year, in the same place, on the same occasion\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Namely, back then, also after a Denver\u2013Chicago game, more than 300 of our children, little ones, waited for over an hour in the arena corridor to meet the MVP, the best in the world. In vain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nikola Joki\u0107 did not deem it worthy to dedicate five minutes of his time to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, another great basketball player, but also a great man, Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107, appeared and comforted them, even though he does not play for the Serbian but for the Montenegrin national team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He came out of the locker room and kindly posed with the children, tossed them some \u201cbones,\u201d talked with them and their parents\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n